Greenhouse Gas Sampling
Technician, Leah Richard using greenhouse gas sampling equipment
May 30, 2024
Gas sampling has started on the Bridge to Land Water Sky Living Labs project. After a winter of planning and training, seeding operations have commenced. Our focus is now on completing our ambitious gas sampling campaign. The latest addition to our gas sampling arsenal, the Licor 7820, is a laser-based detector designed specifically for quantifying the concentration of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide. This technology enables us to collect high quality samples previously only possible on small plot studies. Now we can collect data on farmland seeded by local grain producers that represent the real-world scenario of grain farming in Saskatchewan.
We are thankful for the support from our three collaborators, Brad Toth, Stacey Sutherland, and the Leask Colony who have agreed to seed four different test strips across their fields. These test strips include areas with no nitrogen, a flat rate of nitrogen application, nitrogen applied using variable rate technology, and a strip with an enhanced efficiency product called SuperU. Each field undergoes biweekly sampling with our Licor 7820 gas analyzer, allowing us to accurately evaluate the efficiency of various emission reduction strategies.
In addition to gas sampling, we collect soil and plant samples to track the fate of applied nitrogen – whether it has been taken up by the plants, remains in the soil, or has been released into the atmosphere. As the senior field technician my role involves synthesizing this information and presenting it back to the research scientists. This data will be used develop strategies that can effectively reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions without compromising yield targets.
Author
Steve Kessler
Senior Field Technician
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada